Hellgrammite, The King Kong of Aquatic Insects
I was on the water trout fishing the other day, when my buddy Erik Ashlin said, “it was just about this time last year, when all the hellgrammites began crawling into the shallows to begin their pupation. Let me flip over a rock and see if I can find one real quick, these guys are wicked looking”. No joke, the first rock Erik turned over, this freaking giant 3″ Hellgrammite was laying there with its jaws of life (mandibles) snapping. It was very clear it was gesturing, “come on, get closer…, let me get a piece of you”!
If you ever get the opportunity to examine a big Hellgrammite up close, there will be no doubt in your mind that the Hellgrammite is the King Kong of all aquatic insects. Be careful handling them because they can pack one hell of a painful pinch capable of breaking the skin. Hellgrammites are like a five course meal in terms of food value to trout. I’d lay a bet they pack every bit as much caloric worth as sculpins and crayfish do. Great times to fish hellgrammite imitations are during high flows after heavy rains. During these conditions, they often get dislodged from under rocks and swept down stream. Hellgrammites are also very vulnerable during behavioral drifts, when the larva are searching out new feeding grounds or better water conditions.
Read More »Tenkara and the Single Fly Approach
ONE OF THE MOST APPEALING ASPECTS OF TENKARA FISHING IS THE CONCEPT OF USING ONLY A SINGLE FLY.
For folks considering tenkara, this concept is likely THE most difficult to embrace- especially if they have a western fly fishing background. However, I like to say it is also the most liberating aspect of tenkara since when you learn how to use different techniques to effectively use one fly, all of a sudden you can go anywhere in the world in search of trout with the same fly box. And, it can be very effective.
Before I go any further, let me get a couple of things out of the way: First, you can use ANY fly with tenkara. It works well with your favorite dry fly (no drag on the line, beautiful drag-free drifts), it works well with nymphs too as you can have a nice tight line and lots of sensitivity. You do not have to use a tenkara fly, and you do not have to stick with one fly pattern. I like sharing this concept because it goes completely counter to the thinking in western fly-fishing, but also because it changed my fly-fishing forever to learn that a whole group of people in Japan didn’t change fly patterns while fishing and were still catching a lot of fish.
I am the type of person that gets frustrated by the amount of choices on a dinner menu. I’d much prefer to see a menu with just three items- all of which will satisfy my hunger and taste great. Adopting a single fly approach can
Read More »Sunday Classic / Better Down Stream Presentations & Drifts
How many times have you been trout fishing and spotted a big trout positioned down and across stream of you feeding? I know I’ve seen it plenty of times on the water, and it always seems like those fish are always positioned just out of reach for me to get a regular cast and drag-free drift over them. Right before my fly reaches the fish, I run out of slack as my fly line comes tight, and I get unwanted drag on my fly. Presenting your flies this way to educated fish can often end up putting them down. If you find yourself in this situation you need to be ready to smoothly and quickly kick out extra fly line out the end of your rod tip during your drift. Executing this properly you’ll be able to maintain enough slack to extend your drag-free drift so your offering can make it to the fish, and have a good chance of being eaten.
I see fly fisherman all the time try to use a shaking motion with their rod tip to kick out extra fly line and extend their drift. Most of the time this doesn’t work very well, because it’s really difficult for you to let out fly line fast enough, and keep your flies from moving all over the place in the process. Watch this video below as I demonstrate how to properly present your fly down and across stream to a feeding trout, and smoothly kick out extra fly line to maintain a drag-free drift. It will take a few minutes for first-timers to get the hang of it, but once you do, you’ll have the technique mastered forever.
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Wisdom of Midcurrent
MIDCURRENT IS ON IT.
Midcurrent swings so much knowledge, it’s hard to keep up with it all. If you’re not a regular reader, you should be. It’s an almost un paralleled resource for fly anglers. Here are three recent posts that are definitely worth a read.
Night Moves, plan B
Dave Karczynski tells you everything you need to know about throwing big stuff at big fish in the midnight hour.
What’s So Great About Single Hand Spey
Philip Monahan gets into the how and the why of single hand Spey and what it means to the trout angler.
The Future of the Deschutes, in Doubt.
Chris Santella takes a hard look at what’s going wrong with the Deschutes river.
The Tellico Nymph
THE TELLICO NYMPH IS A SOUTHERN CLASSIC.
Named after the storied North Carolina river where it was proven fool big browns, the Tellico Nymph is a southern as moonshine and just as effective. It’s a simple impressionistic fly that works in any size, although #10 is a favorite. Just because it’s a southern fly doesn’t mean it won’t catch fish on your home waters. In fact, showing your local fish something they’ve never seen might be a great idea.
Conner Jones is back to show you how to tie The Tellico Nymph.
Read More »Fly Fishing with Stealth – 8 Common Mistakes
How often to you think anglers miss opportunities catching trout because of the lack of stealth? The more educated trout populations are in a stream, river or lake you’re fly fishing, the more important it is for fly anglers to mimic the way a hunter stalks game in the field. I estimate that I give away upwards of 50% of my trout catching opportunities due to my lack of stealth. Below are 8 common mistakes fly anglers make on the water that blow their cover and success.
1. MOVING TOO FAST IN AND OUT OF THE WATER
Trout are amazing at picking up on the subtle movement of objects around them. Movement is often perceived by anglers as being more important than noise by trout when it comes to them detecting danger. Eagles, osprey, heron and anglers all fit the bill for danger by trout when they see movement. Don’t just pay attention to your movement in the water either, it’s just as important to pay attention to the movement we make out of the water. I’ve got a wild trout stream a couple miles from my house where the trout are known to spook from anglers walking along an access road high above the river 50 feet or more away. Make no mistake, trout can see very well out of the water, particularly if the water is calm and clear.
2. TOO MUCH NOISE EQUALS UNSATISFACTORY STEALTH
Never be in a rush to get into position so you can make a cast into that tasty looking trout water. If anglers move too quickly, they’re going to increase the noise they make during their approach and greatly increase their chances of alerting trout. Studies show that sound can travel as much as
Read More »The Fishpond Roll Top Boat Bag Makes My Life A Whole Lot Easier
ARE ALL BOAT BAGS CREATED EQUAL?
As soon as I got my new Adipose drift boat I went shopping for a boat bag. It’s the one boat accessory that’s as essential as oars or an anchor. Having your gear organized, accessible and protected in the boat is a must. There are a lot of boat bags on the market and most of them are pretty similar. As soon as I saw the Fishpond, Westwater Roll Top Boat Bag I knew I’d found the one for me.
The bag is roomy. 9″W X 17″L X 12″H. The interior is divided Into three convenient compartments by movable panels attached by Velcro. There are two cool zipper pouches, with clear fronts, which attack by Velcro and can be moved anywhere on the inside of the bag. These are really nice for cell phones and car keys as well as small gear items that like to go missing in gear bags. There is also a clear inner flap with a zipper compartment for frequently used items. The bag is rugged with a tough formed bottom, a comfortable carry strap and several places to fix items on the outside.
Sounds like every other boat bag on the market so far, right? Well, here is the very significant difference. The closure of this bag is a completely waterproof roll top, like you see in dry bags used by white water rafters. This is huge for me. It means that can put my camera and a couple of lenses in one of the compartments and it’s 100% safe from water.
If I get caught in a storm, no problem. Drop the bag getting in the boat, no worries. Sink the boat??? Unlike my heavy pelican case this bag will float. That means I don’t always have to carry a separate camera case and my life just got a whole lot easier. In fact, this bag would make a great camera bag itself. Expensive video camera or sound gear would be safe and dry, no matter what.
Anything you don’t want to get wet while your out in the boat will be safe and dry in the Westwater Roll Top. Still skeptical?
WATCH THE VIDEO, YOU MIGHT BE SHOCKED HOW MUCH I TRUST MY FISHPOND BOAT BAG.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Don’t Hate the River
I was talking with a friend the other day about doing some fishing in Colorado, his home state. This is a good topic to bring up if you are trying to lure me into an extended conversation. Colorado is near to my heart. He was throwing out places we might fish and said “I know you love the Dream Stream, but I hate that place”. This really took me off guard. How could anyone hate that place? If you’ve never fished it, trust me, the name says it all. A gorgeous high elevation tailwater, this section of the South Platte snakes thru a quant little valley between two reservoirs, bending back on itself time and time again, each glass clear bend stacked with big, beautiful, educated trout. What’s so terrible about that? I do love that place and I’ve had some great days there the best being the first. Kent and I showed up with one of the S. Platte’s famous trico hatches in full swing. Glass calm runs turning into boiling caldrons of rising fish. Kent’s triple trico was born that day. The hatch was epic but we caught great fish all day using everything from dries to streamers. How can you hate a place like that? The answer is pretty simple, pressure. You can’t put a stream like that a couple of hours drive from a major metropolitan area and not expect the word to get out. It’s true that the Dream Stream sees a ton of traffic but I’ve always had good experiences there and on a lot of other highly pressured rivers and I think it’s more than luck. Some of it is strategy and some of it is outlook. I have structured my life so that I can be on the water while everyone else … Continue reading
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / All About Tenkara
IT’S TIME FOR SOME TENKARA
I’m really excited about the positive response to the first article on G&G by Daniel Galhardo, founder of Tenkara USA. I’m excited to have him as part of the G&G family and you will be seeing more content from Daniel on this rapidly growing style of fly fishing.
But I’m not going to make you wait! I’m linking to three of Daniel’s efforts outside of G&G so you can get your tenkara fix today.
“WHAT IS TENKARA?” A SHORT VIDEO ON THE BASICS OF TENKARA
ASK ABOUT FLY FISHING
The Ask About Fly Fishing interview with Daniel is everything you want to know about tenkara.
TENKARA BIKING
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“Tenkara Biking” a short video story. Go on a mountain bike ride and do some fishing with Daniel.
Pack The Heat So You Can Pack it Out
No trees here to climb and I can barely see the truck with my naked eyes far off in the distance. The recent run-in with the local WYDNR officer, who just gave me the run down about heavy bear activity in the area, has got me the heebie-jeebies. I’m trying to let loose and be one with the rod, but I can’t stop from thinking I’m smelling wet dog in the air, and I’m terrified of what could be lurking behind the thick moose brush out of sight. If you’re in the process of planning a trip into the deep wilderness where bear, moose, and other dangerous predators thrive, you just might consider purchasing a canister of pepper spray, and keep it holstered on your side. Hell it could save your life.
Two years ago, I stumbled right on top of a Boon & Crockett moose bedded down during a short hike-in to a secluded stretch of the Snake River. Luckily, we both decided to flight in opposite directions, and I only had to change my britches before wetting a line. Guiding in Alaska one season, I somehow managed to stay under the radar, as two giant brown bears went toe to toe battling over a spawning bed within inches of my outpost tent. And I’ll never forget the feeling of total panic, when I walked up on a fresh bloody mule deer kill on the Upper Hoback River this past July. With my heart pounding out my chest, and the realization of no one knowing my whereabouts, I quickly
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